Benjamin Smiths life at CHERUB
by TheBoyWithTheBlackTrenchcoat
Summary: Meet Benjamin Smith, brand new CHERUB agent with a point to prove! Please review after reading and tell me how to improve the story!
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer: I don't own cherub or any of the characters in this story, they are the property of Robert Muchamore**_

_**Chapter 1**_

Slowly, Benjamin Michael Smith awoke from a troubled nights sleep. As he got up, he had to raise a hand to stop the streaming sun of a warm, summer morning, from hitting his face. He sat up, vigorously rubbing his eyes, and looked around to survey the room he was in.

It was a fancy room, with a brand new Apple Mac computer, a microwave, and a very posh bathroom. Sluggishly, he got out of bed, to find out he was dressed only in a pair of white boxer shorts, which were several sizes too small. Then he looked out of the window, and was amazed when he saw a huge athletics track, with about 15 children running around it, with a dark skinned woman, dressed in a dark black tracksuit, yelling at some kids, who were slowing down, and having a joke with each other.

As well as the athletics track, there was 3 football pitches, with a great big lake next to the furthest away pitch. Some well built teenage boys were diving into the lake, trying to impress the girls sitting nearby, but it wasn't working. Ben laughed to himself. Then he spotted some clothes laid out at the end.

There was a pair of combat shorts, which came down to just above his knees, as well as a orange t-shirt, which when he unfolded, he found a picture of a winged baby, with a bow and arrow and ammo belt, sitting upon the earth, with the word "CHERUB," across the picture. There was also a pair of jet black army boots, polished so well that Ben could see his messy brown hair, along with his freckles and wide green eyes, in the reflection. He had a very boyish face, and was rather short for his 11 years. He was also slightly overweight, due to the fact his parents didn't care about exercise. Then Ben was struck with all sorts of emotions, as he collapsed onto his bed in a flurry of tears.

Last night, his parents had gone to a conference in Manchester, leaving Ben at home to look after himself. However, several hours later, there was a knock at the door, and out of the window, Ben could see the brilliant blue lights, and the blaring sirens, of a police car. He opened the door, to find two solemn faced police officers facing him. There had been an accident on the M1, heading towards Manchester, and both Lily and Bill Smith had been killed the instant the car swerved into theirs.

Ben had been sat in a shocked silence, waiting to wake up, and find that it was just a terrible dream, but the next thing he knew, he was being put into a police car, but not before catching a glimpse of his best friend, Tom, before being sped of to a police station, where the last thing he remembered was talking to a psychologist.

As he rapidly pulled on the clothes, and left the room, he saw a very pretty girl, who looked about the same age as him.

"Excuse me," Ben said, "Could you tell me where I am?"

But the girl gave him and hard stare, and replied sharply, "Can't talk to orange," before marching swiftly away, down some stairs to his right hand side.

Ben was highly confused by this. To start with, the girl had been wearing a light blue shirt, instead of orange like him, and secondly, that she wouldn't talk to him because of the colour of the shirt he was wearing.

As he started to walk towards the stairs, a woman who was dressed very smartly, with blonde hair and bright blue eyes, came towards him.

"Hello Benjamin," she smiled, extending her hand towards him, "My name is Zara."


	2. Chapter 2

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN cherub OR ANY CHARACTERS FROM THE BOOKS, THEY BELONG TO ROBERT MUCHAMORE**_

_**Chapter 2**_

Zara's office was even more posh than Ben's room, with a curved wall of windows, 3 computers and a large world map, with annotations on different countries.

"So, I suppose you will have a few questions," Zara asked

Ben nodded, "Where the hell am I?"

"This is CHERUB campus," said Zara, a warm smile upon her face, "My name as I already said is Zara Asker, and I am the chairwoman here."

Ben was still stunned, gazing around, taking in his surroundings.

"I still don't understand, what is this place?" He asked

"Think of us like a children's home. We have about 250 pupils here, with various sports facilities, including swimming pools, all weather football pitches and athletics facilities and shooting ranges. We have a school here, where pupils learn 2 foreign languages, and we have a high percentage of pupils going to the top universities in the country. And the all important question, how would you like to live here?" Zara finished.

Ben broke into a fit of laughter. "Are you serious?"

"There is one more thing you have to agree to, if you wish to stay here." Zara said, her smile now gone, replaced with a look of deep seriousness.

"What's that?" Ben asked, slightly confused by this point, wondering what the hell was going on.

"You must agree to, what is a more interesting requirement, you must agree to become an agent." finished Zara.

At this point, Ben stared at Zara, a look of sheer confusion on his face, bemused by what he was hearing.

"An agent," he exclaimed, "You mean like James Bond?"

"Sort of," Zara explained, the warm smile returning to her face, "CHERUB is a member of the British Intelligence Service."

Ben was shocked. He had seen things like this in movies before, such as Spy Kids, but he never thought it would happen in real life, and even if it did, never in a million years did he think it would happen to him.

"OK, I'll join." Said Ben finally. At that moment, Zara stood up, extended a long, slender hand towards him, and said "Welcome to CHERUB Ben.

"Before we can sort you out with a room and stuff, we need to go over some formalities. As you are becoming an agent, you need to change your name," Zara said, pulling a form out of a drawer, "You can keep your first and middle names, but you have to change your surname. However, your taken surname must match your ethnicity. Do you have any idea what you want to be called?"

Ben sat there pondering for a minute or two, but he broke the silence by announcing his new name.

"Pleased to meet you," he said, "My name is Benjamin Lucas Owen."

Zara laughed at this, and asked where it was from.

"Well," Ben said, "My dog I had when I was a lot younger was called Lucas, I loved him to bits, but he was run over, and my favourite footballer is Michael Owen."

"Ah, a Manchester United supporter I see," Zara assumed, "You and my son Joshua would get on well!"

At this, Ben cracked up, "I can't stick Man.U," he exclaimed, "I liked him when he played for Liverpool!"

At this point, there was a loud knock on the door. Zara got up, and then turned to Ben.

"Ah, I've been waiting for this," she sighed, walking towards the door, "I think you might remember this"

The door creaked open, and Ben was stunned to see a familiar face.

"Hello," said Tom.


	3. Chapter 3

_**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CHERUB, OR ANY CHARACTERS FROM THE BOOK, THEY ARE THE PROPERTY OF ROBERT MUCHAMORE**_

_**Chapter 3**_

"So what's it like here?" asked Ben, as he was eating his dinner. It was about 3 hours since his meeting with Zara, and he was in the canteen, eating a plate of delicious lasagne, chasing the final piece of pasta around his plate.

"It's alright," replied Tom. Tom was wearing a navy shirt, compared to Ben's light blue. He told him he got it from a mission he was on 3 months ago, in East Japan. He had short, black curly hair, as well as tanned skinned, and he said he was half Spanish, "from my Dad," he had said

"So what's this basic training thing all about?" queried Ben. He had been told by a lot of others that it was hell from day 1.

"It is hell from day 1," he said, "but you can make it through." Tom had taken 3 attempts to pass training. First time he failed, he had walked out on day 54, second time he broke his wrist, but third time he passed with flying colours, and was sent on a mission within a week.

"I've got three weeks until I'm due to start training, and my timetable is hectic. I've got intense languages, karate and judo, and I also have to tackle the height obstacle twice a day."

Ever since he was young, Ben had been scared of heights, since being stuck at the top of the London Eye when he was 3. It wasn't a terrible fear, but still made him go weak at the knees.

"Well," Tom said, looking Ben right in the eye, "I could help you if you want?"

"Ok," Ben grinned, thrilled that he would have help overcoming the obstacle.

"You want to go and try it after dinner?" asked Tom.

Ben nodded, but as they were leaving, something caught his eye.

She had beautiful short titian hair, with huge green eyes, which bore a resemblance to large emeralds. She was quite short, but had a slender and curvy figure, and a well developed body. Best of all, she was wearing a light blue t-shirt.

"Who is she?" Ben asked, stunned as he stared open mouthed at her stunning figure.

"Oh, that's Clara O'Sullivan, said Tom, "Hey Clara!"

She turned around and as she was walking over, she smiled and said "Hi."

Ben felt him self going crimson as he replied "Hey."

"Do you start Basic in three weeks?" she asked, the warm smile staying on her face.

"Yeah," replied Ben. He decided to keep his sentences short to avoid the embarrassment of messing up his words in front of her.

"So we'll be doing it together!" she said, and she seemed happy at this, before giving one last smile, and walking off to rejoin her friends.

"Well, I guess we will," replied Ben, as she disappeared from view.

At this point. Ben turned to Tom and said, "I bloody hope we're together in Basic!"


	4. Chapter 4

_**DICLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CHERUB OR ANY CHARACTERS FROM THE SERIES; THEY ARE THE PROPERTY OF ROBERT MUCHAMORE.**_

_**A/N: Hey everyone, first of all, thanks for reading, and thanks to those who reviewed so far. The point of this is I have noticed that my chapters are getting shorter, so I am going to try to make this one longer, as well as following chapters, to make up for it! So hope you enjoy, and here is chapter 4!**_

"So, my darlings, you are mine for the next three months, spat Mr Large. The training instructor was huge, with bulging muscles all over his body, and his CHERUB shirt looking like it was going to rip, "I will now assign you to your beds. We have Number 1, Adam Freeman, The first bed on the right, number 2, Clara O'Sullivan next to him. You two will be partners for the next 100 days." He carried on down the list, when he reached,

"Number 7, Jacob Peterson, you're with number 8, Benjamin Owen."

Ben's heart sunk, as he traipsed to his bed. He had really wanted to be with Clara, but he would just have to get on with it. He exchanged smiles with Jacob, but then Mr Large continued.

"We will be staying in this compound for the entire 100 days, apart from training exercises, and the last 3 days, when we will be travelling to Namibia, to complete the course. You will be wearing these clothes for the entirety of this course, and you will be expected to wash them every night, and after they are washed, you will shower, and you'll get warm water, if I'm feeling kind, but now we will start off training with the infamous Assault Course. "

As the CHERUBS jogged towards the course, Ben found himself staring helplessly at Clara. She was perfect, in every detail, from her small elegant feet, to her stunning eyes and hair, Ben thought she was beautiful. He would have kept watching, unless he hadn't heard

"Ben?" Jacob was trying to talk to him. He must have been miles away in his thoughts. Ben turned to look at him, and smiled.

"Yeah?" he replied, hoping he hadn't asked a question, so he wouldn't seem like an idiot.

"I just wanted to say that I'll try to help you as much as I can during this, but I want your word that you'll do the same for me, ok?"

"No problem," replied Ben, breaking into a smile. Jacob seemed alright, and it made Ben think that maybe it wasn't so bad not being with Clara.

_**Day 23**_

Ben had heard that training was the hardest thing a CHERUB had to do, but the effort required to keep up was incredible. Every day the CHERUBS were pushed to their limits, running the assault course, tackling the height obstacle, which was the worst part for Ben, but Jacob had helped him through it, and amazingly, he was starting to get over his fear. But it wouldn't last.

"AHH SHIT!" yelled Jacob, his eyes clenched up in extreme pain, his hand wrapped around his ankle. Above him, Adam freeman was standing there, with a look of supreme pride on his face, proud to have finally knocked the whiner down a few notches. At this point, Ben came hurtling over.

"What the bloody hell did you do that for!" he cried, furious with Adam. With one look at Jacob's ankle, you could easily tell that it was broken. Now Ben had no partner, and had no idea what was going to happen. At this point, Mr Large came sprinting towards them, bellowing into a walkie talkie.

"Jacob, the medical unit are on their way over here, but you're going to have to drop out of training," said Large. Then, his huge figure turned towards Adam. "What on our good lord's earth made you pull a stunt like that?" spat Large, his face getting red from the effort of shouting. "Get off my training now, and I wouldn't advise that you come back. Owen, you're now with Clara."

Ben could barely control his joy, as he gazed towards Clara, with a 1000 watt smile on his face, met with an equally powerful one from her. At that moment, Ben was sure he would pass training.


	5. Chapter 5

_**DICLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CHERUB OR ANY CHARACTERS FROM THE SERIES; THEY ARE THE PROPERTY OF ROBERT MUCHAMORE.**_

_**Chapter 5**_

_**Day 100**_

The heat was immense, and the air was sticky and moist, as Ben and Clara consulted their instructions, Ben's in German, Clara's in French.

"It says we need to head north through the desert for 50km, and reach the checkpoint by 1900 hours, then I think that's the end of training!" exclaimed Clara, looking at Ben, as he figured the same instructions out.

"And we have 12 hours to do it," smiled Ben, "This is going to be easy!"

"But that would be far too simple wouldn't it?" replied Clara, a look of unease on her face, "Knowing the instructors, there has to be a twist in there somewhere."

"Your right, as always!" retorted Ben.

After about 500 metres, they came across something that made their hearts leap.

"A Dune Buggy!" cried Ben, a look of euphoria sweeping across his face.

As they ran up to it, their faces fell. The buggy was all in parts, laid out around the main chassis, with the instruction manual on the front seat. They had to put the entire buggy together, before they could use it, and there was a sheet of paper from Mr Large, telling them that this was the mode of transport they had to use, or they would fail training. Ben remembered in class once, Mr Large saying that if you had a dune buggy, with all the parts out, and you had to put it back together, it would take you the best part of 11 hours. This meant they had to get it right first time, with no mistakes, if they were to have any chance of passing training.

So they started to work, fast, and in 10 hours and 34 minutes, they had a full working dune buggy sat in front of them, the engine purring, and a look of great triumph on their faces, they jumped in, Clara as the passenger, and with Ben as the driver, he smashed his foot onto the accelerator, and they raced off into the distance, with victory so close they could taste it. When they arrived at the shack, they jumped out and hugged each other, but let go as soon as they realised what they were doing, with both of them turning a deep shade of crimson. As they walked in, Mr Large came to meet them.

"Congratulations," he said, as he looked down at them, "But as you probably guessed, that's not all. There's one more thing you must do."

He walked out of the shack, with the trainees following behind him. As they turned the corner, they came across a table with two loaded guns on there, and about 20 feet away, 2 people tied to the post.

"On a mission, you may be in a situation where you are faced with this situation, having to shoot someone," Large said, over the muffles of the two people tied to the post, " and to prove you have the guts, I want you to shoot these people," he finished.

Ben and Clara looked at each other with a look of shock and complete terror on their faces. They wanted to pass training more than anything, but to kill two people to do it, it was insane.

"I'm gonna do it," uttered Clara, "But only if you do it at the same time."

Ben's mind was going into overdrive. What was he going to do? He finally made up his mind.

"Ok," he gasped.

As they picked up the guns, the muffles got louder and louder, and they started to panic. Ben steadied his aim, closed his eyes, took a deep reassuring breath.

And he fired.

There was a loud BANG, a second after pulling the trigger, and Ben's eyes snapped open. He looked towards the people. But all he saw were fragments of metal. As he gazed at Clara, with a look of complete surprise on his face, he a heard a booming laugh

"I honestly can't believe that you thought they were real people!" gasped Large, whilst wiping tears from his eyes. "All right then, go back inside, there's something waiting for you."

As they dashed inside, they saw something that made them want to cry. Two neatly folded grey CHERUB t-shirts were there waiting for them. As they pulled them on, the reality of it hit Ben. He had done it. He had overcome his fears, battled through the fires of hell and survived, and come out on the other side fighting.

He was a CHERUB agent at last.

_**A/N: Well that's basic training over, next up the mission. I will try to write it and post as soon as possible, but am extremely busy, but will try to write it ASAP. Meanwhile, if there is anything you would like to see in the mission, or later in the story, PM me, and I will try to fit it in. TheBoyWithThe BlackTrenchcoat :P**_


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